


Somebody that I used to Know

by Destinyawakened



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-06
Updated: 2012-06-06
Packaged: 2017-11-07 02:46:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/426069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destinyawakened/pseuds/Destinyawakened
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce reflects on what it is to let go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somebody that I used to Know

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta'd. If you find a mistake that is horrible, please send me a message. Thanks!

It's hard to let go sometimes, and boy did he know that.

 

It still haunted him, the way his parents fell to the ground in a puddle, like the rain that slicked the streets before it, tinted red with their bloods as the iridescence sheen of his mother's pearls rolled through the liquid. Some said that Bruce was lucky. Others didn't understand or tried to push Alfred to send him to see someone.

 

As if someone could really help.

 

Bruce Wayne knew that loss was a part of life – the part that he knew all too well. Like an old friend who went away for a time and then suddenly returned without much notice, knocking at his door with another shallow goodbye for him to grasp on to and hope that his heart could take one more hammer until it broke completely.

 

Rachel's screams still hung in the air, in the back of his mind, sometimes during the night when he tried to sleep, but more often than not during the day, on the street, causing the billionaire to turn. But there was never anyone there, not even a ghost or an inkling of one.

 

Bruce really wasn't sure if a ghost would be beneficial to him anyhow.

 

Sometime had past after Rachel died, after the city had fallen and nothing was left for Bruce but to curl into himself and carry on his father's wishes. Without Batman, without his release, Bruce was nothing, felt like he failed, and when it all came down to happiness, there wasn't any there to be had.

 

Watching Tony Stark had often become a highlight for Bruce, like watching a mirror of a man he had once tried to be, well, pretended to be. Under the surface, however, was a man who knew what he wanted, who knew how to drive to get the best out of people, and though he could be irrationally annoying, Bruce had come to care for the man over the years.

 

Tony was the first to get past the hardened shell that Bruce put up, and it was likely that reason why, after so many years, Bruce pushed him away, afraid of the things that were coming, the dreaded feeling that hung in the air. Something – someone – was watching and waiting, and Bruce would be damned if he let Tony stick around for it as his city, which had just begun to shine again, would be torn down brick by brick.

 

The youngest of the billionaire's knew that it was a battle to the end.

 

Tony, being Tony, pushed right back and when it all came down to who was right, Bruce was stubborn and Tony out of patience.

 

Stark left; fed up with Bruce.

 

It'd been a few months now, and Bruce was leaning on a cane, an accident he wouldn't mention or bother to bring up, and no one asked. The party was low key, just the biggest and richest were there, which meant in a matter of minutes, Tony would be walking in with a blond on each arm, boasting and brilliant as he always was, and Bruce would watch like he used to do, and say nothing.

 

Only it wasn't two blonds that Tony brought in, it was one. A very tall, build man known as Steve Rogers, someone Bruce knew by reputation mostly, not by anything else. Actually, Bruce admired the man and couldn't bring himself to hate the fact that Tony looked happier than ever as the older man leaned over and whispered something (like erotic) in Steve's ear.

 

The blond blushed. Bruce was right.

 

If he thought he was wrong to ever push Tony away, it was all too late now, and with the gleam that caught in Tony's eyes, Bruce knew that whatever chance he ever had for happiness with Tony was truly gone.

 

It was time to let go of this one, too.


End file.
